Next in the series is Anne Dawson. The Head of Media School at the University of Gloucestershire gives us her lockdown lineup which includes some pretty amazing comfort food!

What’s on your reading list?

“I have been mixing my usual diet of literary fiction with some page-turners to help de-stress!

So in the first category: An American Marriage by Tayari Jones and Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk, and in the second The Snakes by Sadie Jones and anything by Cara Hunter whose thrillers are set in my home town of Oxford.

Cara Hunter’s police characters are not fans of Journalists, so it is interesting hearing how detectives feel about press intrusion“.

What are you watching right now?

“I have been hooked to Normal People by Sally Rooney, having read the novel last summer and have been rationing myself to an hour a week to make it last.

Also re-watching all series of Spooks, which doesn’t seem to age at all“.

How do you stay active?

“I have always been a keen runner and cyclist, so at weekends I cycle with my husband, taking the hill out of Cheltenham into the Costwolds and in the evenings I run around town”. 

Favourite musical choices?

“My choice for the lovely summer evenings in the back garden is Ludovico Einaudi, whose beautiful music I first heard on holiday in Italy last year”. 

How are you keeping in touch?

“I have an extended family in London, Bristol and the New Forest, we have a Zoom quiz every Sunday evening and I meet groups of friends and my book club regularly too, usually in the evenings with a glass of wine”. 

Your ultimate comfort food?

“My youngest daughter is home writing her dissertation (she is a Level 6 drama student, usually in London). She has been baking so my comfort food is whatever she takes out of the oven, including this Focaccia“.